USA Wrestling names Mike Duroe as Resident Freestyle Coach and Head Women’s National Coach

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
03/12/2001


USA Wrestling has named Mike Duroe of Colorado Springs, Colo. as the Resident Freestyle Coach and the Head Women's National Coach.    Duroe has served as USA Wrestling's Freestyle Developmental Coach since June 1998. As National Developmental Coach, Duroe has been responsible for the development of U.S. age-group freestyle wrestlers.  He has managed USA Wrestling's women's wrestling programs, including serving as the Head Women's National Coach. Among his other responsibilities was assisting with the coaching of the U.S. Olympic Training Center freestyle resident program.    "Mike Duroe brings to USA Wrestling an unique ability to work with both elite male and female athletes," said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender. "Under Mike's leadership, our Freestyle Resident Program will continue to be an integral part of the success of our National Team program. As the National Women's Coach, Mike has proven himself to be one of the elite coaches in the world. USA Wrestling is very fortunate to have Mike serving as our Freestyle Resident Coach and Head Women's National Coach."    "Serving as the Resident Coach is new for me, although I worked closely with (previous Resident Coach) Kevin Jackson on the staff in the past," said Duroe. "The transition will be a very easy one. The athletes know me and I have helped many of them in the past. We have established ourselves as a legitimate program, putting two athletes on the 2000 Olympic team and having one win an Olympic gold medal. We have to stay at that level and improve it. The second challenge is to bring in more top freestyle wrestlers, especially the young stars right out of college. I love coaching. It's my passion. The day-to-day technique, conditioning and training is what I love to do."    "I've been involved in our women's program actively since 1995," he said. "As we prepare for the World Championships, we have a great opportunity to showcase women's wrestling this year in New York, as it will be held side-by-side with the men. This is a huge opportunity for us to shine, and make an impact on the international scene. We have a chance to make a statement as a sport."    Under Duroe's leadership, the United States has been very successful in age-group World Championships in freestyle wrestling. The United States won the 2000 World University Championships as a team, and has been one of the top nations each year on the FILA Junior and Cadet levels. He has been involved in developing a number of training camps and programs for America's elite age-group freestyle stars.    The highlight of his efforts with the women's program came in 1999, when the United States won the World Team Title in women's wrestling. It was only the third U.S. Senior-level team to win a World title in history. During his tenure with the women's program, the USA has had three individual Women's World Champions: Tricia Saunders, Sandy Bacher and Kristie Marano.    Prior to joining USA Wrestling, he coached U.S. teams on the national and international level in men's and women's wrestling on many age levels.    Duroe served as head coach of the women's team at the 1997 Pan American Championships, which won the team title Duroe served as head coach of the 1997 U.S. Pan American Championships freestyle wrestling team, which placed second in the team standings.    He served as the head coach of three U.S. Women's World Teams (1995-97), and led the United States to its best-ever finish to date with a third-place team performance in 1996 and 1997.    He was a member of the 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic team coaching staff. He also was an assistant coach for the 1996 Pan American Championships team. Duroe was also the head coach of the 1995 Cadet World Team. He served as a coach at four U.S. Olympic Festivals (1989-90, 1993-94).    Duroe served as the head coach at New Trier High School in Illinois from 1986-98, where he led his team to four conference and five regional team titles. He also served as the head coach of the boy's golf team and an assistant coach of the varsity football team. Duroe worked as a faculty member in the Department of Kinetic Wellness.    He served as head coach at Northern Michigan Univ. from 1980-85, and assistant coach from 1978-80. During his tenure at Northern Michigan, he tutored 27 All-Americans and three national champions. Duroe was also the coach for the Wildcat Wrestling Club at Northwestern Univ. from 1985-86.    As an athlete, Duroe was a two-time regional champion for Drake Univ., and was a three-time national placewinner. He served as captain of Drake's team for three years and has been inducted into the Drake University Wrestling Hall of Fame. Duroe competed on the national level in freestyle in the early 1980s.     Duroe received Masters degrees in education and in exercise physiology from Northern Michigan Univ. He is originally from Charles City, Iowa.